Almost three-quarters of older people in the UK are lonely and more than half of those have never spoken to anyone about how they feel, according to a survey carried out for the Jo Cox commission on loneliness.

The poll, reported in the Guardian, found that about seven in 10 (71%) respondents – average age 63 – said their close friends and family would be surprised or astonished to hear that they felt lonely.

That's why we have been focusing on tackling loneliness and isolation, and improving health and wellbeing, since Christmas. Volunteers can provide a social lifeline to lonely people and volunteering is one of the most "social" activities you can undertake.

With regret, Volunteer Cornwall has had to make the very difficult decision to close the Truro Shopmobility Scheme. We appreciate that this will be difficult news for users of the service and we would like to explain the background to this decision.

Volunteer Cornwall has operated, and in part funded (along with other supportive partners), the scheme from surplus funds generated in the course of the charity’s other activities since 2008. Unfortunately, ongoing austerity and doubts over future grants means that the situation has become unsustainable. Before reaching this difficult decision, we have explored other options including discussions with another organisation about taking over the running of the scheme but unfortunately without success.

We recognise that the scheme has provided much needed help to a great many people and we want to soften the blow that its closure will inevitably cause as much as possible so we will be operating a short-term scheme which will make scooters available for current Shopmobility members for the coming months in order that the impact of the closure of the scheme is not too abrupt.

Additionally we will be working to identify those users of the scheme who are most reliant on the service and will be speaking to each of them to identify whether Volunteer Cornwall, or any of our partner organisations, are able to provide alternative means of help getting around the city centre.

None of our other services is affected by this announcement but if you have any queries or questions, please email our Support & Development Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We are pleased to announce that both our Viva Project (Volunteering in Vulnerable Adults) and our Welcome Home Service have been extended for a further 12 months. That means we will be able to continue to support existing service users as well as taking on new ones - at least until March 2018.

We have also secured European funding for new projects including VCSE Skills Training, Living Well to Work and SMARTLINE - more information about these projects will appear shortly.

On top of that, we will be launching our new 'Volunteer Cornwall Academy' in April - look out for our April e-newsletter or check back on our website or social media for more details.